Nail Shop Paris was my very first K-Drama and I'll never forget it. After discovering the K-Drama fandom, it was nice reading the reviews on the show. Although most of the reviews weren't positive I was still tempted to watch the show again and found a few good reasons why others should watch it too.
Overview: This show is about a young female author that is accused of plagiarism. Because of this, an offer to publish her work is rejected just as she is about to sign the contract. In order to get "original" material she follows a mysterious man she sees in the subway. She thinks he is some sort of spy/gangster but finds out that he is actually a male manicurist at "Nail Shop Paris," a high end nail shop which only has male employees. In order to get closer to the hero of her next story she pretends to be a guy and joins the staff. From there, hilarious and sometimes annoying high jinks ensue.
There are 10 episodes, each about 50 minutes long.
Why It's Worth Watching:
1. You don't have to think too hard to watch the show. Let's be honest some of us spend way too much effort thinking about the show we're watching instead of just watching it. This is a very light story so there's no need to over analyze every little bit of it. In fact, it's better that you don't try to analyze it at all because the moment you do, you'll probably stop watching and you may miss out on some funny stuff.
2. The cast. There are 2 idol/actors (Park Gyulee from Kara and Cheon Dung aka Thunder from MBLAQ) in this show and though their acting isn't all that great they're cute enough that I'll give them a pass. Besides them there is also Song Jae-Rim (Two Weeks, Inspiring Generation), Jun Ji-Hoo, Byeon Woo-Min (Tamra, the Island), Kim Chae-Yeon, and Han So-Young.
3. The characters are a bit different from your usual line-up. There's a love triangle between the girl/guy and two guy/guys so that part is typical. However, the main guy isn't a jerky chaebol who falls for the girl and wants to force her to fall for him. And the second guy isn't that nice doormat that most second male leads tend to be. He expresses his feelings quickly and often. I didn't realize how refreshing that could be until I watched more dramas and saw how little that happened.
3. SPOILER ALERT: Second male lead gets the girl! If that's not a good enough reason to at least watch the first episode then I don't know what is.
Though I enjoyed the show I could clearly see the flaws in it, especially the second time around. The ending was a complete mess, the nail art was hideous, the lead female character's interjecting story line for her book got worse with every episode, and the fact that no one could tell was a girl was crazy because she wore tight pants and wedge sneakers all the time. Despite it's problems it was fun to watch and I have no regrets.
Showing posts with label love triangle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love triangle. Show all posts
Monday, April 14, 2014
Monday, April 7, 2014
Monday Marathon: Last Cinderella
This Monday's Marathon is for Japanese drama Last Cinderella.

Overview: It is about a woman who is a bit unkempt, but has a passion for her job and is always good to people. Despite her positive attributes she's 40 and single. Soon she finds herself in a love triangle with a much younger man and her boss. There are 11 episodes, each about 45 minutes or so.
Why it's Worth Marathon-ing:
1. This Japanese drama is for those looking for a more mature drama. If you're tired of the PG Korean love scenes then this show will shock and please you.
2. It's fun to root for which good looking man you want to win most. Both of the male leads are attractive and have good qualities so it's very enjoyable watching them fall for the female lead.
3. Miura Haruma! If you just so happened to watch Hours of My Life (I haven't yet) and want to see him in something light then this is the show for you.
4. It's funny and touching. The show has plenty of comedic moments particularly between the female lead and her boss, however there are a lot of endearing moments for all the characters.
Hope everyone has an awesome Monday!
Saturday, December 28, 2013
REVIEW: Heirs or The Inheritors
So, I came for Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye, but stayed for everyone else. I must say that I was a little disappointed in Heirs as a series. It was hyped up so much that I expected a lot from it, especially considering the cast, however it didn't always deliver. It had some really great moments but overall I wasn't too thrilled or satisfied.
Things I liked:
I loved the side characters: Young Do, Myung Soo, Chan Young, Bo Na, Hyo Shin, Secretary Yoon, Hee Nam (Eun Sang's mom), and Ki Ae (Kim Tan's mom). They became more and more entertaining as the series went on, and by the end I was watching purely to see what would happen to them. Like I said earlier, the cast was made up of some great actors and actresses and I was really excited to see so many powerhouses in one series. They all definitely delivered in the acting department, even if the story line wasn't always a hit.
I also loved Kim Woo Bin's performance as Choi Young Do. Pretty much every review I've read concerning Heirs praises Kim Woo Bin. He is definitely someone to keep watching. He was like magic in this show; every time the story line was lagging a bit he would sweep in and add that spark that made me keep watching.
The other couples. No one can deny the awesomeness and cuteness that is Lee Bo Na and Yoon Chan Young. They were the foil to Kim Tan and Eun Sang; a nice, normal couple that could just date without the fear of one of them disappearing or losing everything that they were planning to inherit. However, they weren't our only lovable couple. What about Hyo Shin and Kim Tan, Hyo Shin and Rachel, Hee Nam and Ki Ae, or Myung Soo and Young Do? The pairings outside of the main couple were so entertaining and definitely balanced out all the drama with just the right amount of comedy. Some spin offs would be much appreciated.
There are so many scenes that I loved.
The paint ball scene has to be one of the best moments of this entire drama. It was too funny! I loved how seriously some of them took it. I would watch the show again just to get to that one scene.
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| Courtesy of DramaFever's Drama Club |
Young Do dropping Eun Sang in the pool is probably number one on the list. I was rooting for Young Do to win the girl the whole time despite his bad boy behavior and the fact that it was pretty obvious that she'd end up with Kim Tan. In this scene when he grabbed her I gasped really hard hoping that he wouldn't do what I thought he was about to do, then SPLASH. I laughed so hard. I knew it was coming but I couldn't help but exclaim at the devious deed.
I also freaked out when Eun Sang slapped Rachel. This is my exact reaction: *Eun Sang slaps Rachel* Me: Loud Gasp, followed by a really loud scream that I had to muffle because it was 2 in the morning and everyone in my house was sleeping. After that I paused the show so that I could laugh at my reaction. It was a great moment and I was so happy to see it. Rachel definitely got what she deserved. It wasn't Eun Sang's fault that Kim Tan didn't like Rachel. It was Kim Tan's fault. If anyone should have received abuse from her it was him.
Some of my favorite moments were when Kim Tan complemented himself. The first time he did he said that he came from a fairy tale. I laughed really hard at Eun Sang's lackluster reaction. Those moments were some of his greatest and sometimes made him a bit more likable.
I could go on forever about my favorite moments, but I highly doubt you'd want to read all that so I'll leave you with one final moment from episode 19. I almost choked to death while laughing at Chan Young's interaction with Bo Na's older brother. Chan Young must have taken a few jealousy lessons from Kim Tan because he freaked out really hard without even knowing the whole story. It was a side we hadn't really seen of Chan Young and I must say it was perfect.
Things I didn't like:
The first thing that really irritated me was the "Love is the Moment" OST. It's a high school drama! To me, that song was a little too mature sounding. It is a beautiful song, but the sound didn't really fit the show to me.
If you've seen the show then you know that one thing that was really grating was the English speaking actors who really sucked at acting. I don't know if it was because they had to speak slowly or if they just couldn't act, but they were horrible. Getting through their scenes was painful. Speaking of painful, some of the English spoken by the Korean actors, particularly Lee Min Ho, was really bad. It's not like I expect them to speak English perfectly, but without subtitles I wouldn't have known what he was saying. I've known foreigners who have lived in America for only a year and I can understand them better. He should be a bit better seeing as how he's been living there for 3 years and not really interacting with many Korean people.
The Chairman and Young Do's Dad: They're psychotic! It was interesting to see them against their sons, but why? What kind of parent puts that much effort into abusing their child. It was so unnecessary for them to be that way, but it explained so much about their children. After seeing the dads we could kind of figure out why Kim Tan, Kim Won, and Young Do were the way they were. They didn't really know any better, but still... Anyway, thank goodness we had a normal father figure in Secretary Yoon. His relationship with Chan Young was sweet and it again was one of the few normal relationships the show had to offer.
The kissing was also horrible. I've seen both Lee Min Ho and Park Shin Hye kiss others perfectly fine, but for some reason their kisses always looked really painful for Cha Eun Sang. She never had a pleasant expression on her face, and the one time she did it was so weird. I don't know why they couldn't get it together.
I hated that Kim Won had to sacrifice himself and his happiness with Hyun Joo for Kim Tan. Why did they make it so that the only way he could redeem himself is to end up like his father. Thankfully Hyun Joo is smart and knew the deal, even though she was still hurt by it.
The ending was not my favorite. From Kim Tan's premonition of the future, to the the 2 minute montage of stares, to the very end of the show, I was left unsatisfied. It just ended so haphazardly. I know every show can't end cleanly and it's not like I expected people to just forget the events over the past few months but still, there were so many people left unhappy or left out in the cold. I just didn't feel quite right after the last episode.
Well, the show is over and I must say I don't regret watching. There are an entire crop of actors I now love and there were so many moments that will forever be etched in my mind. However, I'm not sure if I'd suggest this drama to K-drama newbies or non K-drama watchers. If they don't know or care about the members of the cast they may get lost.
Thanks for reading!
Labels:
Cha Eun Sang,
Choi Jin Hyuk,
Choi Young Do,
DramaFever,
first love,
Heirs,
Kdrama,
Kim Tan,
Kim Woo Bin,
Korean Drama,
Lee Min Ho,
love triangle,
Park Shin Hye,
review,
The Inheritors
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